RISK 2210 A.D.
For fans of RISK there is a new game on the block and its RISK 2210 A.D.. This takes the classic game and gives it some new twists. This review will be split up into varies sections first what you get in that heavy box, rule description and my thoughts on this new version of RISK.
What do you get beside a heavy box?
1 Earth Gameboard - This is of course the map of the Earth and it seems to have gone through a few changes as there is now more land and some interesting new countries. The biggest change is the addition of underwater colonies to the map.
1 Moon Gameboard - The world is not enough when you can conquer the moon.
1 Score Chart - A nice chart to make it easy to determine how many armies and new energy points you get every turn. Also has the year counter on it.
5 D6: 2 white and 3 black
5 D8: 3 black and 2 white - For the new commanders and space stations
44 RISK Land Territory Cards
13 RISK Water Territory Cards
14 RISK Lunar Territory Cards
5 Sets of MOD Armies
5 Sets of Commanders (Diplomat, Land, Naval, Nuclear, Space)
20 Space Stations (4 for each army)
20 Land Command Cards
20 Naval Command Cards
20 Space Command Cards (called Lunar in the book for some reason but says Space on the cards).
20 Nuclear Command Cards
20 Diplomat Cards
9 Blank Command Cards
4 Devastation Cards
5 Turn Order Markers
1 Year Marker
65 1 Point Energy Markers
15 5 Point Energy Markers
So lets start the game already.
The gameboard has six land continents divided into 42 territories. There are also 5 water colonies divided into 13 territories and the Moon with 3 colonies divided into 14 territories. This new version of the rules has the game lasting 5 turns (years in the game) with the player who has the highest score at the end being declared the winner.
The first step in the game after laying out the gameboard is to place the "Devastated Lands" disks. These are makers with well known nuclear symbol on them. When they are placed on a land that piece is a wasteland that cannot be entreated or traveled through. This is determined by drawing the top four land cards and then discarding them. In some ways it can be a help in less territories to take for the colonies bonus but can also hamper travel on the board.
The next step is placing the armies now called MOD (Machines of Destruction) instead of the old 1, 5 and 10 army figures a 1, 3, 5 scale is used. It starts the same with each player placing a 1 MOD till all the territories have been claimed then each players places 3 MOD till they have no more. The next part involves the new pieces as each player places there Diplomat Commander Land Commander and Space Station. Also each player starts with 3 energy points which will be used later to buy commanders, command cards, space stations and to bid on turns.
Turn Breakdown
1. The first part is to determine who goes first instead to it being the same every turn players bid for it. The bidding is done by taking all your energy markers in hand and secretly bidding a number of them including zero. The one with the highest amount gets to choose if they want to first, second, etc. with the next highest bidder picking till everyone has chosen. In case of a tie D6 is rolled to determine the winner with the high roller getting the choice.
The next part is standard count up all your territories figuring out how many MOD and energy points they get. It's the same as in standard RISK.
2. This is the first of two whole new steps. You can hire more commanders and build space stations. The commanders come in handy as they are used to buy and play special cards. Also the Naval and Space commander are needed to move your armies into their respective areas. The space stations are also needed to move into space and they help you to defend the territory they are in.
3. On each turn you can buy up to four command cards. They only cost one energy point each to buy though most will cost more to put into play. All commanders have there own card type and you can only buy or use the ones of the commanders you have in play. The ability of the cards vary from reinforcements to cease fire from one player till the end of the turn.
4. You play any command cards you want that say play before you declare any invasions.
5. Attacking your fellow players is much the same as in RISK the attacker can attack with up to three armies with the defender using up to 2. The high roll still wins with all ties favoring the defender. There are some new twists all commanders except the diplomat attack using the D8 and they all defend with an D8. All armies in a territory with a space station also get to defend with D8 making those harder territories to take. If you manage to take three territories in one turn you get a free energy point and a command card.
6. The last part of the turn is moving units from one of your territories to another. That brings the turn to a end. When all players have taken there turn one year has passed.
The winner of RISK 2210 A.D. is not settled by who conquers the whole map. At the end of five years the one with the most territories, energy points and influence (gained from cards) is declared the ruler of the world.
What I thought of the new RISK.
I admit to being relatively new to RISK but loved the classic version from the very first game. Would I give up the old version for the new one? No, the old version is till a very fun game. The new version though does offer a nice option when I want to play RISK and I'm sure that I will be playing many games of it in the future and will most assuredly get my moneys worth out of it. If you liked the classic RISK I think you should take a look at this game heck even if you never played before you should take a look at this game.
Avalon Hill
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